


Exact

by SeafoamSoul



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 02:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17034423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeafoamSoul/pseuds/SeafoamSoul
Summary: Braun wants you back and has to explain to you what happened on Valentine’s Day. Sequel to Almost





	Exact

“Can we talk?” Braun approached me at the makeup table, right as I was getting my hair done. I ignored him, rolling my eyes and looking down at my phone. “Please, I need to talk to you.”

“Braun, I don’t think it’s the best idea,” Charlotte said, trying to urge him away.

“Babe, please,” he begged, ignoring Charlotte.

At that, I snapped. “I don’t want to fucking talk to you, Braun. I haven’t for the past three weeks and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. And don’t call me babe!” I shrieked, standing up just as my hair was finished. “I don’t want to have this conversation. Not now, not ever. Leave me alone.”

“Please,” he repeated, hand catching my wrist as I tried to move past him. “I love you, you know that, and I need to explain.”

“You don’t love me,” I spat, tearing my arm away from his grip. “And I don’t need you to explain a damn thing to me. Go call Lexis or whatever her name is.” ‘Lexi’ I corrected in my head, stalking off away from him. I knew her name. I knew her name, the sound of her voice, the way she said Braun’s name on the phone. I knew that he saw her, that he “almost” slept with her.

I knew more about Lexi than I ever wanted to. I knew that she ruined one of the good things I had going in my life. Well, she and Braun kind of teamed up together to do that. Even still, I wasn’t interested in hearing Braun try to explain away the Valentine’s Day catastrophe.

It was hard enough knowing that I had been finally cultivating a love for the holiday itself. It didn’t start out too terribly. It was actually a great day, one I thought I would look back on in reverence for the rest of my life. But then, as night fell, so did our relationship.

I tried to move on, to look past it. After all, I didn’t come to WWE looking for a relationship. I had sworn off relationships for a while, intent on concentrating more on my work. But Braun ruined all that for me in one simple moment.

I wish it had never happened. I wish I had never gotten lost that day, wish I had found Carrano’s office on my own. Maybe then this would have been different. Braun and I would never have gotten together and I wouldn’t be crying myself to sleep every night for three weeks after we broke up.

At least now I could focus more on work, on improving my skills in the ring. I was in a pretty promising storyline with Charlotte, one I hoped would mean good things for me after it came to an end.

When we were together, Braun and I talked at length about how great it would be when we became champions. I was extremely far off from that happening for me, of course, but Braun had a chance. He was in a high profile storyline, main eventing Raw and preparing for huge matches. He always joked that once he became champion, he would make sure I was given a chance. “I don’t want to be champion without my girl by my side,” he told me.

Sighing, I shook my head free of the thoughts of my time with Braun. I had a match tonight, one I wanted to give one hundred percent to. I shouldn’t still be thinking about Braun anyway. Not like that. I was trying to move on, trying to better myself and my career. I had matches to win, a future women’s championship reign in my future. I had better things to think about than my relationship with Braun coming to a crashing halt on Valentine’s Day.

With that, I squared my shoulders, my head held high as I moved off to gorilla to get ready for my match. I would push Braun out of my mind indefinitely, ready to kick ass in my match against Charlotte tonight. That’s what needed my focus, that’s what I needed to be worried about.

I would be happier this way. At least, that’s what I was trying to tell myself.

============================

“Carrano wants to see you,” Bayley told me as I came back through the curtain after my match, high off my win against Charlotte.

“Did he say why?” I asked, grabbing a bottle of water off the nearby table.

“No,” she said, characteristic smile on her face. “But I think it’s good news.”

“How do you know?” I raised one eyebrow at her as I took a sip from my water, looking at her critically.

“I can feel it,” she shrugged, walking off.

My eyes scanned the group of people gathered near gorilla as I took another sip from my water bottle. Everyone was broken up into groups, talking amongst themselves. I didn’t notice Braun’s hulking frame in the room, letting out a breath I wasn’t even aware I had been holding. At least I didn’t have to worry about evading him on my way to see Carrano.

Of course, Carrano’s office was never in the same spot in the different arenas we went to. He never even tried to make it easy to find. As such, I was wandering around backstage, muttering under my breath about how tired I was of his ever-changing office space.

I had a distinct sense of deja vu, one that made me scrunch my nose up in distaste. I was trying not to think about Braun or anything related to him. So of course, when I turned my head to look down a branching hallway, trying to find Carrano, I ran right into someone’s solid form. I would know that chest anywhere, could pinpoint him in the pitch black darkness.

“You okay?” Braun asked, voice deep with concern.

“I’m fine. Don’t touch me,” I replied, removing my arms from his hands as he steadied me.

“Can we - “ he began.

“I’m not talking to you,” I cut him off, sidestepping him. “I have to find Carrano.”

Before I could make it too far past him, his hands were on my shoulders, turning me around. “His office is down there,” he told me, pointing to the hallway branching off to the right.

I huffed, tossing my hair over my shoulder before stomping off. Deja vu, indeed.

========================

Leaving meetings with Carrano never had me in as good a mood as I was tonight. He told me that I’d be getting a title push as soon as my story with Charlotte came to an end. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I spent the whole ride to the hotel with a huge smile on my face, thinking about how I could make the most out of my soon-to-come opportunity.

The smile didn’t waver from my face until I reached my hotel room door, a body slumped against it. Braun. His head was in his hands, propped against his knees. When he heard me get closer, he stood up, towering over me in front of my door.

“Please,” he begged, cutting me off before I could say anything. “I need to talk to you.”

“Braun,” I sighed, shaking my head. I knew if I didn’t hear him out here, now, then he would just keep begging for me to speak to him. And with my major push coming up, I didn’t need to worry about Braun. With another sigh, I unlocked my door, stepping over the threshold and holding it open for him.

His face lit up when he realized I was letting him into my room, when he realized I was finally going to listen to him. “Thank you,” he breathed, taking his hat off his head, bending it in his hands.

“Don’t thank me, just talk.” I was turned away from him, settling my things down near the bed. I didn’t want to really look at him when he explained this to me, didn’t want to have to see his soft brown eyes. They were always my weakness, and right now, I couldn’t really afford to be weak.

“I’m sorry,” Braun rushed out, words blending together into one. “I’m so sorry. But you didn’t stay long enough for me to explain that night.”

“I couldn’t just stay there, Braun,” I cut him off, whirling around to face him. “I had just talked to a woman who asked what your plans were. Only to find out you cheated on me!”

“I didn’t cheat on you, though!” Braun was quick to correct me, hat being crushed in his hands. “I didn’t. I almost did, but I didn’t.”

“I don’t want to know what ///almost/// happened, Braun. I want to know ///exactly/// what happened!”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just…I was really drunk. You know what it’s like to go out with the guys from the roster,” he explained, dropping his hat on a nearby end table and taking a step closer to me.

“That’s not an excuse.” My eyes narrowed at him, arms crossed over my chest.

“I don’t have an excuse,” Braun admitted, scrubbing his face with his hand. “But I have an explanation of what happened.” When all I did was raise an eyebrow at him, he continued. “I was drunk. I was sitting at the bar, my phone out ready to text you when that girl sat next to me. She wouldn’t stop flirting with me, wouldn’t leave me alone. I kept telling her that I was with someone - you - but she wouldn’t stop. And then she took my phone, texted herself so she’d have my number, and tried to get me to go back to her apartment.”

“What?” My mind was racing, trying to think about how this could have happened. “What about everyone from the roster?”

“They left. That’s why I was ready to text you. I was gonna ask you to come get me,” Braun explained.

“Oh,” I breathed, sitting down on the foot of the bed.

“But when she didn’t leave me alone, I was just trying to get away from her. I went out, got a cab, and was trying to come home but she climbed in after me. Told the driver we’d ride together, but to drop her off first. The next thing I know, she was in my lap, kissing me.”

“Braun,” I whispered, eyes wide as he got more and more uncomfortable. “You don’t have to -”

“And I was drunk, so drunk. So I just went along with it. So I guess I did cheat on you. Kissing someone else is cheating, isn’t it?” Braun didn’t give me time to answer before he was continuing with his story. “When the cab stopped outside of her building, she asked me to come up with her. I almost did. Almost agreed to get out of the cab and follow her upstairs. But I didn’t. I told her I couldn’t, that I had to go. And then I got home and you were asleep and looked so peaceful. I figured it would be okay, I had handled it, so you didn’t need to know. And then, a few days later, she called, and you know what happened from there.” Braun took a deep breath, his chest heaving as his eyes met mine across the room. “I love you, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose.”

I didn’t say anything, instead opting to stand up and cross the room to stand in front of Braun. His head tilted down, breaking our eye contact. Slowly, I slid one hand up to his cheek, biting my lip as he moved his head further into my touch before finally looking back up at me.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled again, the one phrase I had heard him say so much these past three weeks. The one phrase I didn’t want to hear him say again. Not like this.

I couldn’t think of the right words to say, to fix all this and get rid of that terribly hurt look on Braun’s face. So I did the only thing I could think of, leaning up on my tiptoes to press a soft kiss to his lips. He let out a shuddering breath after I pulled back, his shaking hands resting on my hips.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you earlier,” I said, wrapping my arms around him in a warm embrace. Being back in his arms, even after such a short time, felt like home. Even through my anger, I spent the last three weeks missing him, thinking about him.

Braun didn’t say anything in return, just tightening the grip he had on me, bringing me closer into him. We stood there for a while, silent in each other’s arms. Finally, Braun pressed his face into my neck, his beard tickling my skin.

“I love you,” he whispered against my neck, grip tightening on my hips.

“I love you, too,” I replied easily, smile on my face.

When Braun pulled away, fingers trailing across my skin, that sad look that had been on his face for so long was finally gone. “I should go to my room,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

As his arms left me, I tightened my grip around him. “No! Please, stay.” I shot him a smile, waiting for his reply.

He didn’t answer me, instead scooping me up into his arms and moving us to the bed. He got comfortable first, pulling me into his chest, our legs tangled up together. I let out a content sigh, my body molding right into his. This felt right. No more negativity, no more stress and anger. Just us, together, curled up in each other’s arms. This was what I needed.


End file.
